City of Lake Forest Park
17425 Ballinger Way NE
Lake Forest Park, WA 98155
www.cityoflfp.gov
206-368-5440

December 2023

The month of the issue has been corrected above. Thank you for your understanding.

Mayor Jeff Johnson

Mayor’s Corner – Reflection

With this being my last Mayor’s Corner message to the LFP community, I would like to use it to say what an honor it has been to serve as your Mayor the last eight years and as a city council member for four years before that. Over the last 12 years, we have accomplished a lot, including the following:

We weathered the COVID-19 pandemic and maintained balanced budgets throughout the economic downturn
Moved to hybrid city council and advisory body meetings, expanding public access to the legislative process
Moved the culvert replacement plan forward by completing the culvert on NE 178th Street and preparing the next replacement at NE 185th Street
Built a picnic shelter at Pfingst Animal Acres Park
Purchased the Lake Front Park property and began the public planning process
Held Coffee with the Mayor events
Welcomed a new Municipal Judge
Held the annual Picnic in the Park event each year and the popular Battle of the Bands
Created the Climate Action Committee
Said goodbye to some long-term staff who retired, and welcomed new hires

If I had to pick the one thing I am most proud of during my tenure as mayor, it is the city’s purchase of the Lake Front Park property. Once complete, our community will have free waterfront access to Lake Washington. Our name is Lake Forest Park, after all.

If I had to pick the biggest ongoing challenge to the city, it would be finding funding to maintain and update our public amenities like parks and sidewalks. When presented with a proposition on the November 2021 ballot to help fund sidewalks, parks, and multimodal connections, voters said no. Without the community’s support for funding of these types of improvements throughout the city, future city leaders will be faced with tough choices when developing budgets—how to maintain the current levels of service and improve and maintain infrastructure in the face of inflation and staffing limitations. If park and sidewalk development and maintenance is truly a desire of the community, the community will need to support funding options.

I would like to thank all the city staff members for their hard work and dedication to the LFP community. I always enjoyed seeing you at council meetings, events, and around city hall.

Lake Forest Park is a great place to live and work and it has been an honor to serve as an elected official during these past 12 years.

Happy holidays to you and yours, and may the new year bring blessings to all.

--Mayor Johnson

Assistant Planner Elizabeth Talavera

Child shopping at Target with police officers for Shop with a Cop event

Alarm clock set to 11:57 with silver ribbons and ornaments around it

Council Corner – A Look at the Year Ahead

It is my great pleasure to join with our continuing Council Members Lorri Bodi, Semra Riddle, Tracy Furutani, Larry Goldman, and Jon Lebo in welcoming our two newly elected members to the Lake Forest Park City Council in 2024.

Ellyn Saunders and Paula Goode each bring a variety of outstanding professional experiences and skills to the policy-making body of our city. We are very thankful for their willingness to serve our city in this capacity and know that they will make excellent contributions in different and meaningful ways to the conversations we have with our community.

Taking a look at the year ahead, the short State Legislative Session is underway, and we will continue to advocate with our delegation for our City’s top priorities:

Lyon Creek Fish Barrier Removal
The City is grateful for the state’s allocation of $1.8 million for the Lyon Creek Culvert near State Route 104. The project is now fully funded and will proceed in coordination with the replacement of the state-owned culvert on SR 104. Completion of this project, anticipated for 2025, will total 8 replaced culverts along Lyon Creek. The City is thrilled with this progress and intends to continue working upstream to remove all barriers for salmon to access Lake Ballinger.

State Route 104 Investments
SR 104 is not only in poor condition but lacks safety measures that would increase the use of multimodal transportation options. The state is responsible for the maintenance and improvement of this infrastructure. WSDOT has indicated an overlay is scheduled for 2027. The City is working with WSDOT to request the advancement of that timeline and incorporation of complete streets principles in any improvements.

City Financial Challenges
The 1% cap on property tax revenue has created an unsustainable fiscal structure for cities. Rising insurance rates are adding to this pressure. LFP’s liability premiums have gone up 21% over the last year. Bedroom communities like LFP are acutely impacted by this limitation and will not be able to continue providing current levels of municipal services to residents without a change, either through adjustment of the cap or other revenue tools.

Behavioral Health Care System Needs
LFP is a member of the Regional Crisis Response (RCR) agency which provides co-responder services to individuals experiencing a behavioral health crisis. The City supports sustainable funding for co-responder services, crisis stabilization centers in all areas of the state and investment in behavioral health facilities for individuals in need of longer-term care.

The year ahead is a very full one for the Lake Forest Park City Council, and some major topics we will be considering include:

Continued discussions with Sound Transit to ensure the best project for LFP
Traffic calming and speed limits within our city
Implementation of the Climate Action Plan
Recommendations for pre-approved building plans in addition to our Accessory Dwelling (ADU) and Detached Accessory Dwelling Unit (DADU) regulations

It has been my great privilege to serve you as Deputy Mayor for the past two years and a member of the City Council for the past 12 years. I am honored to be able to continue to work with a wonderful and dedicated Council and city staff in the coming years.

I wish you all the best in this holiday season! Stay well and stay safe.

--Deputy Mayor Tom French

NEMCo volunteers practicing with a drone

NEMCo’s Drone Program - Year One

Volunteers with the Northshore Emergency Management Coalition (NEMCo) consistently train on developing and enhancing their emergency preparedness skills to better assist our community by providing education on general preparedness strategies and learning practical skills to ensure they can assist first responders during times when emergency services may be overwhelmed. These skills cover basics such as proper fire extinguisher use, basic first aid/CPR/AED/ACT training, generator safety, as well as more specific areas, such as urban search and rescue, water distribution, and firefighter rehabilitation.

To find other viable approaches to assisting first responders and the community, this year NEMCo began to explore utilizing drones for disaster responses such as urban search and rescue and rapid damage assessments. This approach reduces hazardous exposures and risks of on-ground injuries to volunteers, first responders, and the public. Drones can provide preliminary data and video documentation to focus efforts and document ground assets in a timely manner.

The drone teams train in accordance with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rules and regulations for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) under 55 pounds (14 CFR Part 107). NEMCo drone pilots must pass the FAA Part 107 exam and hold a valid UAS Remote Pilot Certificate. Teams typically consist of ground, air, flight, and data specialists with a pilot and flight specialist operating the drone and radio communications during flight activity. Each specialist position receives 6-8 hours of training based on the responsibilities and tasks of the positions for which they are training. To date, NEMCo has 12 Certificate Specialists at different levels and an additional 11 team members working on this training.

The drone can stay in the air for about 30 minutes, fly up to 400 feet over the scene (based on FAA maximum allowable limits) and carry an on-board camera to search, record, and potentially map the search environment. Once the search target is located, the drone team radios the search parties on the ground to investigate further.

The first field demonstration of its value for urban search and rescue was on September 30, as part of the State of Washington’s Fifth Saturday Drill. Setup was at Horizon View Park and the drone team’s mission was to locate a simulated missing person in the surrounding woods. During this drill, the simulated missing person was located by the drone team, and they were able to guide the ground teams smoothly and efficiently to the identified location.

Based on this initial success, NEMCo is planning to train additional specialists and conduct further field flights to demonstrate how drones can be a functional part of NEMCo’s response.